Preview Images of “Cloud Minders” Remastered

This weekend the remastered Star Trek episode "Cloud Minders" airs and CBS has sent over a couple of shots, including a matte of the new Stratos City and an exclusive shot of a very bad day for one of the Troglytes.

see images below

The highlights of the remastered version of "The Cloud Minders" are all-new visual effects of the cloud city, Stratos, created by CBS Digital. The new matte painting of Stratos by Max Gabl is based on a digital model by visual effects supervisor Niel Wray, which in turn is based on the original design of the cloud city by series art director Walter M. Jefferies. The original episode had a number of establishing shots of the city, which were all pretty much the same. For the Remastered version we are going to see multiple angles of Stratos. CBS has been kind enough to send over one of these new shots.

Image 1: “Stratos 2"If you look REALLY closely, you might notice a tiny light blue smudge, above and to the left of the center of the image. That’s the beautiful Droxine, standing on her balcony. She’s just a couple of pixels high in this photo.

Remastered (click to enlarge)

Original

Exclusive Image: “Falling"The second image (of the ‘unfortunate’ Troglyte who didn’t have the right paperwork) gives a closer look at the planetscape below Stratos City, which is based on the same photograph used by Cinema Research Corp in creating the episode’s original visual effects in 1969. That photograph was taken by astronauts on the Gemini IV orbital mission in 1965 and shows the Hadramawt Plateau dry river basin in southern Saudi Arabia. For the remastered effect, Dwayne A. Day of the National Research Council and John Hargenreder of the NASA History Office combed through NASA archives at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. to find the original photograph for the remastered visual effects team. (The distant mountains on the horizon are based on a different photo, taken by astronauts on the International Space Station.)

WOW, nice! I would like to think that the beauty of that “city in the sky” would have been the same image – or VERY close to it – used by sfx creators for that proposed 5th Season episode of ST:ENT where the NX-01 crew was slated to visit that world, and where we were to see how the class division was starting (as seen in this story, with those Stratos City dwellers vs. the Troglites living in the caves on the planet below). Nice work, CBS Digital! Nice work!

Not sure what you are talking about. CBS usually send out images to only two sites, AICN and TM. And we often get exclusives. If they get it a couple hours earlier I don’t care, also bear in mind that time lag for some maybe logistics….AICN is a bigger operation and may be able to get it out earlier.

In this case I think they had one image up a couple hours before we had two images up. I would rather have two images than one.

I have been very happy with the access CBS has given this site for interviews, images and info on Trek Remastered, and I know they are thankful for all the promotion.

The shots look incredable and i like it a lot. This was a great show all around. Seeing kirk act crazy due to the gas and of corse being with the hot alien babe. Anthony you are the best and no matter if a site gets a pic earlier this is the one ill always come to. Thank you.

Now THAT’S what I’m talkin’ ’bout! Despite the fact that I’ve been less than thrilled with the work CBS-D has been doing overall lately, I’ve been holding out hope that “The Cloud Minders” would not disappoint. These images bear out that hope. It’s wonderful to see Stratos so beautifully realized.

I’ve got my fingers crossed that the sky-diving troglyte flails his arms and legs a bit as he plummets. The original FX are just so Wyle E. Coyote.

“Droxine does have reported side-effects, including explosive diarrhea, unexpected and violent flatulence, dry skin, nausea, vomiting, Turret’s Syndrome and spontaneous combustion. Please ask your doctor if you are healthy enough to have sex when you have an erection lasting more than four days.”

This is the type of work that I look forward to. The mattes have never disappointed me ever. It’s funny how we could have such awesome and complex mattes yet we still have James R. Kirk tombstones, and Earth spinning backwards.

27. “Now, if they could just remaster Droxine’s vaccuous personality. She’s the Cloud Mind in The Cloud Minders.”

Now that’s laugh-out-loud funny fer shure!

This is the one where Spock’s voice is so low he sounds like he’s purring. Acting stupid, but purring. I think he got a whiff of that Xenite gas or Droxine’s perfume and started spouting pon farr secrets willy nilly. I this this ep is an example of where the story takes a back seat to the visual. A gorgeous ep, but lousy dialogue, IMHO.

18, 26
Funny, I never made the connection between the Cloud City in Star Trek and the one in Star Wars. The architecture of Stratos looks a bit Art Deco like the architecture created for Bespin as well. Cheers

Isn’t there another one of those awkward reversed shots of Kirk near the beginning of this ep? At the top of the first segment, while he’s still in Vanna’s whip.

Wait. That’s just fun to say. Vanna’s whip. Yeaaaahhh.

OK, I’m back.

My other thought on this one is that it’s the episode that has Jeff Corey, as Plasus. When, I was a kid, I couldn’t remember either name if you put a phaser to my head. But, whenever I saw True Grit, I recognized Kim “Miri” Darbey and Jeff Corey. I could never remember his name in True Grit either (it’s Tom Cheney) mostly because the names they seem to repeat the most is Ned Pepper (Robert “How many great movies do I have to be in before that jerk CmdrR remembers my name?’ Duvall.) Anyway, True Grit has two prominent Trek alums.

Another movie with two prominent Trek alums is “Cool Hand Luke.”
I’m sure the geeks out there can name one right off…

Is that one of Gumby’s friends falling to his death? It’s been awhile since I’ve seen this episode, barely recall it, except that it did inspire the imagination beyond planet of the week. Just out of curiousity though, didn’t Flash Gordon have floating cloud city’s first? And where the hell are our floating cities today? ;-) Just kidding.